Learning to weld

[Bigfoot]

Don't waste your money on a fixed tint helmet cause you're going to get an auto-tint hat eventually anyway. They aren't that expensive and you'll have enough things going on without being almost blind until the welder strikes.

Stick welding blows but it's a good skill to know. You can bend a rod and get into some really tight spots. I turned my stick welder to 110 when I was plugged into 220 last year and burned it up. Don't miss the cursed thing though...yet.

I grew up w my dads and grandads welding shop behind the house but I only weld once every couple years and I'm still a hack to this day. Never had a weld break though.

 

[hawksfan503]

I am a welding instructor. If you have some questions please pm me.

 

[jbett98]

Craigslist Portland has a MillerMatic 35 for sale right now, and he is looking for gun trades.
You can't beat these older work horses. They just want to weld, and for a beginner there the best.
I own one of these, and once you set them up, it makes welding a joy and not a chore.

Craigslist ad below:

I have a miller 35 welder that 150amp and duty cycle of 60
call 503 530 6858

450.00
I will part trade for a rifle or pistol

 

[rockstardrnkr]

Welding is not a terribly hard to get, consistancy is key, also some good tools, a lincoln can be had for under 500 that can be set up for mig procees (metal inert gas) but out of the box will weld fine,

Welder,
Gas(optional)
Slag hammer,
Wire brush
Grinder
Welding hood(dont skimp here) its your eyes after all, a jackson is awesome and costs about 30-40, my speedglass is an autoshade and was something like 340
Dont go to harbor freight for this, some will support it, but even the fraction of a second differnce will mayter and you will feel it.

You could have a nice setup going for under 650,

 

[salmonriverjohn]

I could teach you if you were close. I have a Lincoln buzz box (stick welder) a wire feed using C-25 gas and a gas torch/ welder set up. The only thing I havnt done is get a Tig or plasma cutter for home use,yet. Like they say if you can run a pretty and strong bead with 6011 rod you can weld with anything.

And here I always thought old sticky rod was 1109

 

[salmonriverjohn]

And TIG is where it becomes art!

Write your name upside down with that there wire feed in cursive, with you underneath it, then do it with 6011, which one is art? no offence mind you as both are art, and some of the best I ever seen were of the fairer sex! I'm not sure how they do it though, considering that most guys usually are in their "right" minds.

 

[BANE]

I would say practice practice i was lucky to have a father that taught me to weld. Man he was a good welder.. RIP.... I started welding with 6010 6011 and jet rod now i weld it all.. mig, tig, dual shield, inner shield, stick ,sub arc, in aluminum, mild steel, stainless, cast, but the hardest is titanium. Have fun and pay close attention to your puddle .. eyes open and hood down.

 

[RVTECH]

Extra light helps immensely. I keep a movable spot light on my welding bench I can direct at the work. Even with an auto tint hood the extra light helps before striking an arc and while welding. Also if your eyes are on the 'edge' at all for close work it gets worse with hood on. I recently had to give in and put a 1.5 magnifier in my hood.

 

[jbett98]

My first welder was a Lincoln stick machine.
Opened the box, took a quick glance at the safety instructions and went to work on a hitch for my 1955 Willy's pickup.
One of the first items described as a necessary piece of safety equipment was earplugs when welding upside down.
"Why wear earplugs when welding upside down I thought to myself, that's dumb, it's no louder then welding right side up".
Ten minutes later, I'm pounding my head on the concrete slab trying to dislodge the molten splatter rolling around my ear canal.
Take the time to read all of the safety instructions and defiantly invest in a quality darkening hood. The cheap Harbor Freight ones are pure crap.
And the hitch that I was working on, I had it up on a bench grinding some of my first welds, when it slipped off of the bench and when it hit the floor, proceeded to break into two pieces.
Found out real quick how little I knew about welding.

 

[deadeye]

And here I always thought old sticky rod was 1109

What did you think 7018 granny rod was???

 

[mm509]

but the hardest is titanium.

Titanium is actually an extremely easy material to weld. The difference being you have to be extremely aware of alot of parameters that you dont have to think about with nearly any other material. The most important (actually kind of a tie) is maintaining an inert atmosphere on the heat affected zone and weld deposit until being cooled to nearly room temperature; maintaining an elevated sense of situational awareness of the heat lines being produced in the base metal during the welding operation. A perfect titanium weld and heat affected zone maintains the same color as the unaffected base metal (chrome). Just thought I would throw that out there, for anyone who was interested in that tid bit.

On to the OP's question..........Hell yes you should weld!!!! It is extremely fun, saves you alot of money, and think of all the activities!!!
-You can learn how to weld by just practicing.........but having the knowledge of what is happening at the immediate time of the arc is imperative. Almost more importantly is having the knowledge of what makes a weld acceptable and unacceptable........I have never seen in a code book,"The weld shall resemble a Kinetic Research Group Whiskey 3 chassis, with a Badger M2008 action, Timney trigger, Bushnell G2DMR scope living in American Rifle Company rings, and a Benchmark Barrels .243 barrel." <--That is a thing of beauty!!! What welds must have is a lack of discontinuities and any defects that by nature render said weld UNFIT FOR SERVICE!!

If you want to be a good welder, definetly practice, practice, practice!! But get a grasp knowledge base and what makes a weld fit for its intended service life. Target(s) and stands, do not carry the same requirements as say a Seismic Restricted full penetration weld holding cyclic loaded structure as found on a bridge member, or a stainless pipe weld carrying a caustic material through your back yard. Have fun and build some stuff!!

In closing, I am an American Welding Society Certified Welding Inspector, Washington Association of Building Officials Welder Examiner, Certified Welder in AWS, WABO, ASME. I own my own welding company, also an inspection and consulting business, and a Welding Instructor at a local technical college. In the course of my career, I have seen alot (ALOT) of welds. Good, Bad, Pretty, Ugly, Long, Short, etc, etc. All had there own requirements, but at the end of the day, remember that every weld you produce is your signature. You cant blame somebody else, something else, for you walking away from a weld that you shouldn't have!!! A phrase that I was told upon recieving my CWI status was, "Inspect every weld as a family member's life depended on it." I can honestly say that I have inspected welds that a family members life did in fact depend on.

Build some target stands, and have fun with it!!

With regards to rebar welding though, there are some concerns that should be maintained before welding takes place, if you want the welds to last any length of time. If you would like, PM me and I will help you out more.

Regards

 

[salmonriverjohn]

What did you think 7018 granny rod was???

L rod man But a rose by any other name is still a rose.

 

[mjbskwim]

OK I have watched xray pipe welders for years,on natural gas lines.
That's the best schooling you can have. You see what happens to the metal when heated.You learn that if you don't tack enough spots,the pieces twist out of place.Then you cut it apart and start over. +100 on the grinder

Now with all that experience helping fab meter sets and every other type of pipe welding you'd think I could weld easily.
Yeah I thought that too. But it's been a while and I forgot how to set the dials and had to learn that all over.
Learn to set up the welder for the thickness of your material and then burn some rod,or some wire I guess.
I bought a gassless wire feed from home depot.It does have the plumbing for gas if so desired.I didn't have it on a 20amp service and hurt it. So now I do a lot of adjusting while welding.
So I built a front and rear bumpers for my duelly for about $1200 including the welder. That's bumpers that would have cost me $1500 each,easily.

Ton of fun and all you need is a somewhat steady hand

Good luck

 

[PhantomWorks]

I find myself doing that all the time I do a lot of rail and also structural stuff and it is a real treat to see some peoples work.

Me too!
But I used to fab railings on some if the worlds finest mega yachts so my standard is "kind of" high...
And the sight of something similar when walking into a library or an apartment building is, man, that guy was good!

 

[Capn Jack]

Next time you board a WA.State Ferry, look around at some of the beads.

It'll make you want to get right off.

Jack...

 

[spectra]

A one eyed blind man can wire feed while standing on his head, rodding is where it gets fun! Sorry, I just had to throw that in.

Did this today while I was upside down Simple hardwire on a banch I threw together for my garage. Yeah crappy pic but what do you expect from a cell phone.

 

[Capn Jack]

Was cutting one day and hadn't changed into my boots.

A ball of slag fell on my shoe ran inside between the laces and left me
a burn half way around my foot. ffwall:

Couldn't get that shoe off fast enough.

Jack...